I was very pleased to hear Mr Duff saying you have to earn the right to make even 1 football league appearence. I was very uncomfortable when Dodds was selecting 16 year olds that had been with the academy for a few weeks for the league cup ties over more established squad members ? Had they earned their stripes on merit ? If so why have none featured in any league games since then ?
So many things during Dodds reign seemed surreal, the Danes couldn’t get a look in last year, we sign even more players and all of sudden he starts playing them. The Stockport farce, when he left the whole of the right side of defence un protected for 65 minutes to everyone’s bemusement.
Will we see a Netflix film in a few years, in which PE Teachers Shuttlepants and Dodds duped football clubs into employing them ?
I’ve been wondering who Duff might bring in with him. I don’t have much confidence in the two ipad guys and I’m glad one of them has gone - just read one of them (Tom Hounsell) is only 29. Here’s who he’s worked with in the past and where they are now:
Martin Paterson (former teamate, assistant manager under Duff at both Barnsley and Swansea City). Now Head Coach at Notts County, having been appointed in June 2025.
Martin Devaney (former teamate, first-team coach at Barnsley): He is currently a first-team coach at Port Vale.
Alan Sheehan (assistant coach at Swansea) : Now manager of Swansea City.
Russell Milton (assistant manager at Cheltenham): He is the Chief Scout at Forest Green Rovers, since the summer of 2024.
Kevin Russell (assistant at Huddersfield). Now unemployed.
Based on that I predict Kevin Russell or Russell Milton is inbound. Outside chance we get Tony Loughlan, who was on Sean Dyche’s coaching staff at Burnley and Steve Stone, but he might be a bit too high profile for us.
We’re all raring to go.
Not expecting overnight miracles of course but looking forward to seeing in action an experienced, largely successful manager and, perhaps most importantly, a vastly experienced former player (640 appearances as a central defender for just two clubs). How fit must he have been!
As a former central defender himself, it will be interesting to see who the predicted three at the back will be. My own guess is that he will pick Grimmer (c), Taylor and Allen. The latter because he is taller than Harvie and played in that position for Walsall.
I’d like to think that Declan Skura might get a look in at some stage this season.
Michael Duff has a possibly unique claim to fame having played in the top eight tiers of English football.
1995/96 - Hellenic League (Premier Division - tier 8) - with Carterton Town
1996/97 - Southern League (Southern Division - tier 7 ) - on loan at Cirencester Town 1996/97 - Southern League (Premier Division - tier 6) - promoted with Cheltenham Town.
1998/99 - GM Vauxhall Conference (Tier 5) - promoted as Champions with Cheltenham Town.
2001/02 - Football League (Division Three - tier 4) - promoted as play-off winners with Cheltenham Town.
2002/03 - Football League (Division Two - tier 3) - relegated with Cheltenham Town.
2004/05 - Football League (Championship - tier 2) - signed with Burnley for £30,000.
2008/09 - Football League (Championship - tier 2) - promoted as play-off winners with Burnley.
2009/10 - Premier League (Tier 1) - relegated with Burnley.
2013/14 - Football League (Championship - tier 2) - promoted as runners-up with Burnley.
2014/15 - Premier League (Tier 1) - relegated with Burnley.
2015/16 - Football League (Championship - tier 2) - promoted as Champions with Burnley.
The interview is so refreshing. I enjoyed Dodds’ early interviews, but it did give the feel of that Paul Merson Roberto Martinez quote - ‘it’s like watching Men in Black, you can see them play terribly, then he speaks and your memory wipes and you think they’ve been brilliant’. I appreciate that got a little draining towards the end.
But Duff’s chat is like Gaz’s was. Proper picking everybody up and saying ‘this is how we’re going to do it. I’m here. Everything is ok’
Whether that’s the case is to be seen, but he’s got me believing
I get the impression that Duff isn’t the sort of bloke who’ll suffer fools. I’m looking forward to him calling out the nepo boys when they cock things up again.
I’m really glad that we have signed Duff. He seems to have a good understanding of what is needed here and what he can do to change it. He also has the experience to help him through those difficult times. The interview was clear and that he can give us the boost that we’ve been missing.
I’m interested to see what he’s going to do with our squad and who he’ll use that Dodds didn’t.
I also get an impression that we prob won’t see any Academy players in the game again Wigan. He points at this in the interview. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do name a team with 9-11 changes between Northampton and Wigan. I suspect he’ll want to see how everyone performs before making major decisions on his squad for the Wimbledon fixture.
Only just had time to watch this, what a brilliant interview and exactly what we have been crying out for. I want to hear our manager say he wants to win games and that is #1. I want to hear him say we need to do the ugly stuff and the creative, that we need to mix it up, that football is simple and not much changes over the years in reality. What he said about Academy players needing to earn first team starts was really impressive as well, setting the tone of what excellence looks like for everyone.
His positivity and aggressiveness is what Mike was missing in my mind. He comes across as a leader, someone to look up to - there is a touch of the Fergie’s about him. You get the feeling the players will not now be getting an easy ride and it felt they were under Mike. GA talked about his first season being tough because he was not “The Gaffer” he was still their mate/peer. Once he stamped that authority, things changed.
Interestingly he referenced speaking to the owner a lot, which suggests he was talking to Mikheil and maybe not Dan. Unless of course Eduard is considered the owner.
This could be a Big Sliding Doors moment.
I don’t like what the OG did to MB, as is well known, I don’t like how the culture has seemingly changed and a lot of staff/players have moved on from previous regime. I really worry about the money we are spending if they walk away. However, credit where it is due, they’ve been decisive and hopefully got in a superb head coach. A lot to like about this appointment.
I agree that he said all of the right things in his interview (and his body language was far more positive). However, I’ll wait to see if reality matches the words! With Dodds, it definitely didn’t!
Duff seems to have two things to be excited about. He speaks about ‘the project’, and fans of his old clubs praise him as a ‘long-term project manager’, which is clearly what the owners are after. Although it has to be said, you’ll have a tough time finding any coach who doesn’t call themselves a ‘project manager’ in 2025.
But also, he’s been around a bit, and has enough experience to deal with the direct situation of dragging us up the table, and getting our featherweight team up for a bit of hustle and bustle.
